The Far-Reaching Influence of the English Language

As globalization takes hold of our collective society, the- India
English language is quickly becoming the universal- Nepal
language for many reasons. For one, business across- Middle East and North Africa
borders as well as over the internet, whether it is- United Arab Emirates
conducted by small companies or multi-national- Kuwait
corporations is largely conducted in English. Global- Oman
politics and diplomacy are largely conducted in English- Egypt (English is mandatory from the 4th grade on)
as well. In fact, English is the world's second largest- European Union
native language, the official language in 70 countries,- Austria
and English-speaking nations are responsible for about- Belgium
40 percent of the world's total Gross National Product.- Bulgaria
Part of this can be attributed to the USA's status as a- Cyprus
major world power in economic, political and military- Czech republic
aspects and by the huge influence of American- Denmark
movies.- Estonia
The Internet- Finland
The internet was developed chiefly in America, and- France
whether that is an influential factor or not, the majority- Germany
of Web sites and Web pages are in English. People- Greece
from all over the world access these English-language- Hungary
sites on a daily basis. This indicates that there are a- Ireland
many people all over the world who can at least read- Italy
minimal amounts of English enough to browse the- Latvia
Web.- Lithuania
Popular Culture- Luxembourg
English can be at least understood on at least some- Malta
level almost everywhere in the world among scholars- The Netherlands
and educated people. The English language is also- Poland
widely recognized as the world's media language, and- Portugal
the chief language of cinema, TV, pop music and as- Romania
aforementioned, the computer world. All over the- Slovakia
planet, even people who don't necessarily speak the- Slovenia
language know many English words, their pronunciation- Spain
and meaning.- Sweden
Countries Where English is Taught in School- United Kingdom
Because of the English language's far-reaching- Latin America
popularity and use all over the world, many non-English- Argentina
speaking countries are now introducing English lessons- Chile
in their public and/or private school systems. Some of- Columbia
the countries that include the English language in their- Costa Rica
school curriculum do so for one or more of the- Guatemala
reasons mentioned above. Other countries are simply- Honduras
forward-thinking in that they can see a degree of- Mexico
universality to the language that will offer its students- Panama
greater opportunity. Other countries have their own,- Venzuela
unrelated reasons for teaching English in their schools.Conclusion
No matter what the motivation, below is a list ofAs you can see, English is increasingly being taught to
countries that currently offer English as a secondelementary, middle school and high school students all
language in their schools:over the world. In many of the schools in the countries
- Asialisted above learning English is either mandatory, or
- People's Republic of Chinaoffered as a foreign language study much like Spanish
- Japanand French are taught in the U.S. In other countries,
- South KoreaEnglish is offered as an option to those elite members
- Taiwanof society who are in the position to pay for private
- Singapore (English is taught as a first language here)school or tutoring.